Agroecology : The challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050

One week of lectures and projects on agro-ecology: an EnvIM week welcoming European students (March) of the ATHENS program.

The challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050

The Athens week on agroecology presented the challenges and concrete & innovative solutions developed by entrepreneurs & key players to face this challenge.

The Continuing population and consumption growth will mean that the global demand for food will be increasing at the same time for at least another 40 years. However, our ability to produce food will be impacted by the growing competition for land, water, and energy, and by the the urgent requirement to reduce the impact of the food system on the environment. Furthermore, the effects of climate change are also a threat to food security. Growing consumptions of food & timber products will add pressure on agricultural markets and the global need for producing land. This pressure is already leading to massive deforestation in the tropics (15 million ha per year representing a ¼ of France) destroying unique biodiverse ecosystems, emitting 15% of the global GhG emissions and threatening the livelihoods of hundred millions of local communities.

We need to rethink our production and consumption models. The intensive agriculture scheme of the so called “green revolution” cannot be pursued as it leads to the destruction of soils, water and biodiversity resources.Over 2 billion ha of degraded lands are available worldwide and could be mobilized. Producing more on fewer land and protect the environment : the agro-ecology promise is being more and more promoted by farmers, entrepreneurs, NGOs, governments, industrials, research institutes, and even investors, becoming one of the pillar of the Paris Agreement for Climate Change..